Fall in New England

It's not technically winter yet according to the calendar, but she decided to blow in anyway last week, and wow is it chilly out! I'm saying goodbye to autumn by posting this photo from our hike with the Georges and Roehms last month. There are still a good number of leaves on the ground, though, and today I had the joy of watching a rather burly thirty-something year old man, out with a bunch of his guy friends, skipping through a pile of fluffy dry leaves. He had a huge grin on his face, half prepared for the ridicule of his friends and half sheer joy of the moment. It was awesome.

Life boils down to two questions.

Should we get a dog?

Or should we have kids?

Wendy - after nearly a week, this fwd still makes me laugh, so I have to pass it along. I also want to applaud the parents that had the clarity of mind to take this picture.

I know some of you are wondering about hidden meaning in this post. Sorry to say there is no implication here, but I look forward to the day I can answer one or both of these with a yes. After all, who wouldn't want one of these smiling characters to teach you how to enjoy life all over again?

A Niece

Isabelle Magdalene "Maggie" Johnston was born by (repeat) c-section on Friday, November 7. She weighed 7 bs, 12 oz and measured 20". She and Angela are doing well. We're so excited to meet her in just 8 weeks! Doesn't she have Ricky's nose?

We Voted!

The line was 15 minutes long. It impressed me that people were definitely making the effort to vote. Despite the fact that we're a rather predicatable state, there are a few important questions on the ballot: state income tax, marijuana penalties, and greyhound racing. Election day is exciting! I can't wait for the outcome, although I don't think I can stay up that late. What surprised me, though, was that Massachusetts votes on paper while Texas votes on computers! (Go Texas!) Up here you fill in the box with a pen. This is nice in that we as a nation can put those "no child left behind" skills to work. Well, now off for my free Starbucks!

Results: http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/election_results/massachusetts_results/

Med School Mini-Reunion

The grand finale of October visiting came with a visit from Chris & Rebekah Georges. I was so happy that they picked Boston for his birthday celebration. They came all the way from San Antonio. Our friends Corrie and Robert Roehm couldn't resist freeing up the weekend and driving up from Hartford, CT. We pretty much maxed out our capacity at the Hardy Inn, and it was great fun to have everyone together again. Rebekah, Corrie, and I joined a prayer group with about seven other girls from our medical school class. The three of us were newlyweds by the end of our first year, so with that common thread we spent many of our Fridays cooking dinner for six. October has such amazing weather and foliage, that it was great to be "forced" to get out of the house and explore once again. All six of us piled into Ricky's car and headed to Mt. Cardigan in NH. (I highly recommend this hike!) Unfortunately, it was a nasty day, so we had no view, but Chris & Rebekah kindly insisted they were just as happy with the adventure of hiking into a cloud. After showing off our church on Sunday, Chris & Rebekah treated us to a ride on the duck boats. Thanks Georges! The captain was a wealth of information, and it was a beautiful day. We topped it all off with a trip to the North End for coffee and dessert. Yum! Thanks for visiting friends!

Head of the Charles

This is one of my favorite Boston events of the year. It consists of two consecutive days of non-stop rowing. The boats start releasing at 8 AM and don't stop until 5 PM. I just think it's awesome that there are so many rowers out there. They've worked so hard to get to this point, and I get to watch the beauty of the sport (without the pain). The weather was beautiful too. Yet again, Ricky and I had the opportunity for visiting, this time, family.

Surprise Joe!

Joe and Kelly Hornberger have this great family tradition of taking trips together to celebrate anniversaries and birthdays, rather than buy something. This is the second time in a row that Boston has won the appeal of celebration-worthy. Not only did we get to spend the weekend with friends arriving right on our doorstep, but we had an excuse to splurge on a Cape Cod vacation. It never would have occurred to me to head to the Cape in October, but it's a beautiful time of year. The weather was amazing, and the crowds were very much subdued. We stayed at "A Little Inn on Pleasant Bay" and spent much of our free time biking and consuming New England delicacies (ice cream and seafood). Thanks for coming!

Happy Birthday Big Ricky and Little Hardy

October 2nd marks the birthday of both Ricky's dad and our only nephew (yet!), Hardy. So after Scott's wedding, we zoomed across town to Hardy's birthday party at Gymboree. We caught the tail end of the cake eating, which featured blue icing smeared all over the faces of a bunch of two year olds. In my heart, I wanted to join them. I had never been to a Gymboree, but the kids were crazy about it. There were so many bright colors, climbing objects and soft things to land on. I watched Hardy practice going up the stairs, down the stairs and over and over again, getting a kick out of it each time. Hardy has grown so much. He's obsessed with Thomas the tank engine (and friends), and is so proud of his new skills, like walk-running around the house, which he also did over and over and over. I love this picture of him checking out his super cool shadow.

Introducing Scott & Palm Feist

Okay, so this post is about a month late. October was full of traveling, visiting, and celebration. We had the gift of time and the means to participate, which was awesome, but we're just starting to get organized in the aftermath. The kick off was Scott Feist's wedding on October 4th. Scott found himself a lovely woman, and together they planned a beautiful wedding. Scott was Ricky's roommate at Rice for all 4 years. The wedding gave us a great excuse to get down there and bore the added bonus of seeing family and tons of friends. Congratulations Scott & Palm!